With tour just around the corner, I’ll be writing reviews of Phish shows again before too long, and for that I am grateful. While considering my reviews, I thought a good way to change things up and prepare for tour would be to look more closely at some of my more commonly-used phrases when describing Phish music. In an attempt to make my writing clearer for those reading along this summer, I’ve created some audio excerpts to serve as aural definitions of some terms. Today we’ll start with five basic terms, and I’ll put together a couple more installments of “Minerese” before tour starts.

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“Percussive Grooves”

Often growing out of high-speed rock jams, these are the sparser segments where all band members offer rhythmic phrases in unison with each other. When traced back to its origin, this type of jamming grew out of Halloween ’96’s adventure, Remain In Light.

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“Ambient Soundscapes”

11.21.09 (W.Rogell)

Built from layers of sound, these passages can take different forms. While often drifting into spacey realms, “ambient soundscapes” can also remain anchored to harmonies and/or melodies. I’ve tried to select differing examples to illustrate this difference.

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“Blissful Psychedelia”

Emerging deep within a jam, these are the sacred places that Phish reaches after the initial segment of improv has settled. Pieces of unique music that reach deep into the soul, segments described as “blissful psychedelia” evoke the emotions and majesty associated with the magic of Phish.

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“Amoeba Jamming”

An Amoeba

This is a term I coined years ago when trying to describe those musical passages where nobody is truly leading the jam. Each member pushes and pulls the music ever so slightly, creating an “amoeba-like” dynamic of non-linear improv. These jams can also take differing directions, so I, again, tried to choose different examples.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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“Swank Rhythm Licks”

When Trey is feeling his funk-mojo, he’s one of the best rhythm players around. Taking time away from soaring solos, Big Red slices and dices dance grooves like the Iron Chef does meats and vegetables. Check out these vibrant late ’90s examples of Trey getting down with his bad self.

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(If anyone wants to attempt to identify all the audio samples, the winner can select the Download of the Day and write the blurb for the next three days. Some ’09 is featured.)

II: David Bowie, If I Could, Fluffhead, Down with Disease > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday Reprise, Possum, Hold Your Head Up > Terrapin > Hold Your Head Up, Harry Hood, Cavern

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 11:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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550 Responses to “Minerese: Vol. I”

I love Bobby short shorts with the popped up polo shirt. Add the Miami Vice ponytail and I’m sold. The best part of Crimson White and Indigo was seeing Bobby, Jerry, and Mickey all sporting the ponytail. Too funny.

You got to love all of the Dead, just like you got to love all of Phish. The good and bad all come together to make one experience. I used to be pissed that the only shows I caught of the Dead in the early ’90s were bad Jerry shows. Now I realize that I should be extremely grateful that I was able to see any Jerry at all.

A very close friend passed away at the 7/25/99 Deer Creek show and I’ve always made it a personal goal to make it there for a show at some point. I was hoping for this summer, but due to the kiddo’s due date being so close, I’m not going to be able to make it. It’s on my TO DO list though and I will make it there at some point to pay my respects.

just want to say again: Its going to be awesome meeting so many of you. By the end of August, this place will be comparable to our own little network site. We’ll know many of the people behind the handles, and you can only imagine the quality of conversations when we’ll be sharing tour stories and laughs.

yo Miner, I can’t believe you don’t put up the show dates for your “minerisms!” does anybody know what show the second one on “blissful psychadelia” is? The chord progression they end up settling on is awesome shit. Trey leaves a lot of space for Mike, who absolutely destroys it (especially starting at like 4:45). I absolutely must get this show. Sounds like it’s a ’98 or ’99 show… the way Trey is looping is a dead giveaway.